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Monday, September 30, 2024

High Holidays of 2024 World-Wide and Prayers For Peace For Israel

Nadene Goldfoot                                          

                                       Rosh Hashana and my round Challah for the New Year

Challah is traditionally made round for Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, for a variety of symbolic reasons, including: 
  • The cycle of time: The round shape represents the cycle of the year, both the past and the future. 
  • A crown: The round challah's shape resembles a crown, which symbolizes God as king. 
  • A desire for a full year: The round shape represents the desire for a complete year. 
  • A reminder to perform t'shuvah: The round shape reminds people to perform t'shuvah, or repentance, and live a life of goodness. 
  • A time to make choices: The round shape reminds people that Rosh Hashanah is a time to make decisions about whether they want to repeat the past year or make changes.  
  •  This year we will pray for peace finally in the Middle East and in Ukraine.  

  • Pomegranates: Using pomegranates to decorate the table, or serving them, as they are symbolic of hope 
  • New fruit: Eating "new fruit" on the second night of the holiday, before breaking bread and dipping it in honey 
  • Fish head: Serving a whole fish with the head attached, to symbolize moving forward and making progress in the year to come 
  • Dates: Eating dates, as a symbol of praying for God to vanquish enemies and those who wish evil upon us 
  • Beets: Eating beets, as a symbol of the hope that enemies or other obstacles will be “removed” from our lives 

Rosh Hashana:  Evening of Wed, Oct 2, 2024 – Fri, Oct 4, 2024

This is the start of our High Holidays.  Rosh Hashanah (Hebrewרֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה literally "head of the year") is the New Year in Judaism. The biblical name for this holiday is Yom Teruah (יוֹם תְּרוּעָה‎, Yōm Tərūʿā, lit. "day of shouting/blasting"). It is the first of the High Holy Days (יָמִים נוֹרָאִים‎, Yāmīm Nōrāʾīm, "Days of Awe"), as specified by Leviticus 23:23–25, that occur in the late summer/early autumn of the Northern Hemisphere. Rosh Hashanah begins ten days of penitence culminating in Yom Kippur, as well as beginning the cycle of autumnal religious festivals running through Sukkot which end on Shemini Atzeret in Israel and Simchat Torah everywhere else.

In the Talmud tractate on Rosh Hashanah, it states that 3 books of account are opened on Rosh Hashanah, wherein the fate of the wicked, the righteous, and those of the intermediate class are recorded. The names of the righteous are immediately inscribed in the Book of Life and they are sealed "to live". The intermediate class is allowed a respite of ten days, until Yom Kippur, to reflect, repent, and become righteous;  the wicked are "blotted out of the book of the living forever."

                                                                        

Yom Kippur:  Evening of Fri, Oct 11, 2024 – Sat, Oct 12, 2024

Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, is known as the holiest day of the Jewish year. Leading up to and on that day, Jews traditionally ask for forgiveness for our wrongdoings from God and from our fellow human beings.   The Shofar is blown.  It is a mitzva to hear this.  The first day of Tishrei (now known as Rosh Hashana) is termed a "memorial of blowing", or "day of blowing", the shofar. Shofars were used for signifying the start of a war. They were also employed in processions as musical accompaniment, and were inserted into the temple orchestra by David.                                         

Jews strive to transcend our physical bodies on Yom Kippur so that we can focus on our souls. Therefore, traditionally, Jews fast on Yom Kippur, refraining from both food and drink for the entire 25 hours of the holiday. It is also traditional to refrain from other earthly pleasures, such as bathing and wearing leather shoes, something seen as a luxury in ancient times. Many Jews choose to wear white, symbolizing purity and renewal as we repent for our past sins.                                          

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPIiQDICFFc

Yom Kippur begins with the hauntingly beautiful Kol Nidrei service. Flanked by two witnesses holding Torahs to simulate a beit din, a Jewish court, the prayer leader recites a centuries-old Aramaic formula releasing us from any vows that we may fail to fulfill in the upcoming year.     

The prayer Kol Nidrei includes the following English translations: 
  • "Our vows shall no longer be vows, and our prohibitions shall no longer be prohibited, and our oaths are no longer oaths" 
  • "Forgive the entire congregation of the Children of Yisrael and the stranger amongst them; for the entire people sin unintentionally" 
  • "Blessed are You, Adonoy, our God, King of the Universe Who has kept us alive and sustained us and brought us to this time" 
  • "We declare these null and void" 
  • "We repent that these obligations have estranged us from the sacred task we were chosen for" 
  • "We shall strive from this Day of Atonement till the next to avoid such and similar obligations" 

Resource:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosh_Hashanah

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shofar#:~:text=It%20is%20blown%20each%20morning,initiate%20and%20dissolve%20a%20Herem.

Haman's Present Day Followers

Nadene Goldfoot                                           

      Haman, 2nd in Command in Persia expected ALL to bow to him-glorious as he was    

Haman was the Persian King Ahasuerus ' (Xerses ) Chief minister) as told in Esther 3:9.  He had it in for Mordecai, Queen Esther's Uncle because he wouldn't bow down to him.  Mordecai had explained that he didn't bow to any man.  It was known that Mordecai was Jewish from the tribe of Judah.

Haman was so mad about it, so resentful, that he actually plotted the annihilation of all the Jews in Persia, and it had started when Esther gathered her courage and told her husband that she also was Jewish.  Haman and his sons were hanged.  We Jews celebrate this with the festival of Purim.  Haman was called "The Agagite" which was interpreted by the rabbis to indicate his descent from Agag, King of Amalek, nomads who earlier had attacked the old and injured of the Exodus-their forever enemy. 

Do you notice that we have been attacked by Hamas, a terrorist group in Gaza;  Hezbollah, another terrorist group in Lebanon; and the Houthis, a terrorist group of Yemen?   Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis are all maintained by Iran (ancient Persia). 

Israel's army is the IDF-Israel Defense Force.  They have been on the defense of their living on part of their ancient land that their first King Saul had reigned over way back in c.1000 BCE, which was 3,000 years ago.  I know this, as King David ruled from 1010-970 BCE and he followed Saul.                                           

The Houthis have fired missiles and drones at Israel repeatedly in what they say is solidarity with the Palestinians, since the Gaza war began with a Hamas attack on Israel in October.

Al Jazeera wrote that "Previously, Houthi missiles have not penetrated deep into Israeli air space, with the only one reported to have hit Israeli territory falling in an open area near the Red Sea port of Eilat in March." So even in March, they were testing the waters.  

The Houthis have also been attacking the USA and Israel. The USS Dwight D. Eisenhower may be one of the oldest aircraft carriers in the U.S. Navy, but it’s still fighting — despite repeated false claims by Yemen’s Houthi rebels.June 17

Yemeni Houthi militants performed a drone attack on Israel on 19 July 2024, hitting an apartment building near the US Embassy branch office in Tel Aviv, Israel's economic center in Ben Yehuda Street. The drone strike killed one person in his apartment building, and injured 10 others.
A long-range ballistic missile fired from Yemen has hit central Israel, sparking fire, according to the Israeli military. The missile triggered air raid sirens in Tel Aviv and across central Israel, including the Ben Gurion international airport, sending residents running for shelter. There were no reports of casualties or damage, and the airport authority said normal operations resumed shortly after. The Houthi group, also known as Ansar Allah (supporters of God), controls most parts of Yemen, including the capital, Sanaa.15 Sep 2024  Al Jazeera
  (Reuters) - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would inflict a "heavy price" on the Iran-aligned Houthis who control northern Yemen, after they reached central Israel with a missile on Sunday for the first timeHouthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said the group struck with a new hypersonic ballistic missile that travelled 2,040 km (1270 miles) in just 11 1/2 minutes.  An Israeli military official said the missile was hit by an interceptor and fragmented in the air, rather than being completely destroyed.  Sept 15 
"Whoever needs a reminder of that is invited to visit the Hodeida port," Netanyahu said, referring to an Israeli retaliatory air strike against Yemen in July for a Houthi drone that hit Tel Aviv. 
                                     THE LATEST
Thick smoke billows from a raging fire at oil storage tanks a day after Israeli strikes on the port of Yemen's Huthi-held city of Hodeida on July 21, 2024.(photo credit: AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES) 

The IDF’s impressive strike against Yemen’s Houthis on Sunday was the most powerful one against the terror group since the beginning of the war, even exceeding the massive strike on Hodeidah in July, sources told The Jerusalem Post ahead of the IDF announcement.Dozens of Israeli aircraft, including F-15I fighter planes, participated in the operation, striking 1,800 kilometers from Israeli territory after the Houthis fired three ballistic missiles on the Tel Aviv and central Israel areas in recent weeks, including one on Saturday.  According to an IDF statement, the Israeli Air Force conducted a wide-ranging operation today, striking military targets of the Houthi regime 1,800 km from Israel. Dozens of Air Force aircraft, including fighter jets, tankers, and intelligence planes, were involved, targeting oil ports and power stations used by the Houthi regime for military and oil supply operations.

Resource:
Edited: 9:38am 
The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia
Israel AM

Sunday, September 29, 2024

Who Republicans and Democrats Are: What Colors Our Rosy Glasses?

Nadene Goldfoot                                                      

Republicans originally were the party of Abraham Lincoln (b: February 12, 1809- d: April 15, 1865 age 56) , our 16th president serving  from 1861 to his death.  My maternal grandfather  was a Republican.  Lincoln led the country into the well known Civil War between the NORTH and the SOUTH.  He brought about the freeing of the Black people who had been captured and brought here against their will and  from slavery.                                   

Onward entered the stage known as Donald Trump (b: June 14, 1946-78 years) of "You're Fired ! ", a TV program of his..  He was our 45th president from 2017 to 2021.  He has now stated that he blames American Jews for not voting for him.  He had been a Democrat, but switched to Republicans in running for President.                              

Democrats are thought of as the party of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, our 32nd president   (b: January 30, 1882-d: April 12, 1945 age 63) who was elected to 4 terms, to die during the 4th during World War II in 1945. He was president for so long that we all thought of him as our father of the nation.  We children cried and cried when he died.  After all, we were in the great 2nd WAR.  

 My father was a Democrat.  He was Jewish, and the Jewish people felt he had a lot to do with their being in the United States at a time when their European family members were being slaughtered.  I asked my father what the differences were between the 2 parties and he said, "The Democrats are for little businesses like me, and the Republicans are for big businesses.  

When it comes down to it, Roosevelt really hadn't had much to do with saving their lives, only they didn't realize it.  He got the credit.  Jews' immigration into the USA was greatly restricted in 1924.  Jewish immigration slowed down in 1924 due to the Immigration Act of 1924, also known as the Johnson-Reed Act, which severely restricted immigration and limited the number of immigrants from certain countries:                     

  Harry Truman also our 33rd president (b:May 8, 1884-d: December 26, 1972) served from April 12, 1945 -January 20, 1953; took over when Roosevelt died and served again from 1949 to 1953. Truman's second inauguration was the first ever televised nationally. He had a haberdashery shop, and was a politician.  He got along very well with his partner, who was Jewish.  That probably was the cause of his being for a state of Israel.  Those around him were against it, but he prevailed, and voted for an Israel in the UN, setting the precedent.  Most Jews became Democrats.  

The Republicans and Democrats have switched their positions somehow from their original slate.  Democrats became the great understanding people who were more tolerant than Republicans.  They are on the LEFT.  Republicans are on the RIGHT.                                                                                                     



 It came down to Barack Hussein Obama II, our 44th president, (August 4, 1961 age 63) serving from 2009-2017)  when the Democrats took Israel off their (to aid and assist list) and I was alarmed and alerted. During Hillary Clinton's run: Hillary was President Bill Clinton's wife, born October 26, 1947) and is an American politician and diplomat in her own right. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013.  “Those who litigate the particulars of a two-state solution between the Israelis and Palestinians by fighting for controversial language in the Democratic platform are severely misguided,” said former California Rep. Henry Waxman, once a senior Jewish lawmaker on Capitol Hill. “Make no mistake: Inserting unnecessarily contentious changes to the platform would serve only to hurt our nominee in November and undermine the prospect of a two-state solution during the next administration.”  At the time, the idea of a 2 state solution sounded so American, like a Canada and USA arrangement, and they had no knowledge of either's past history or outlook on peace and what that meant.  Biden is still of that mind.  

Still, members of both sides of the debate came out

 of Saturday feeling they scored at least a bit of a 

victory. “The new language breaks with the party’s

practice of framing its aim of establishing a 

Palestinian state solely in terms of Israel’s interests,”

 said a statement from Jeremy Ben-Ami, president 

and founder of J Street, which advocates for Israel

 but sometimes breaks with the positions of the

 Israeli government. 


Obama was the first African-American president in U.S. history, who also had a father from Africa. He just said recently,  when asked about the current violence in the Middle East. In an excerpt released yesterday of an interview that will run in the coming days, Obama emphasized shared responsibility for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that goes back decades — and cautioned listeners against ignoring the complexities of the roots of the bloodshed.  Yes, Obama said Hamas’s attack was “horrific.” But, he continued, the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories and “what’s happening to Palestinians” is also “unbearable.”  Thus, he blames Israel for Hamas's creation and hatred.  He has no desire to really know Israel's truth of being constantly the defender of a land officially pronounced as Israel as he's had the time since then to do so.  There were times when he showed his distain when the Israelis were at the White House and had to use the back entrance.  I remember that and always will.                                                

Now the last known president is Joe Biden.  Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942 age 82) is an American politician who has been the 46th and current president of the United States since 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice president from 2009 to 2017 under President Barack Obama and represented Delaware in the U.S. Senate from 1973 to 2009, so he's been under the Obama influence since being his Vice President of 2 terms since 2009. The Senate approved the national security supplemental on Tuesday night, by a vote of 79-18.The legislation combined the four bills that were approved by the House over the weekend. After months of pushing the Biden administration to do more to pressure Israel to change its conduct in its war in Gaza, Democrats in Congress ultimately approved $26 billion in aid for Israel, including approximately $9 billion in global humanitarian aid (how much would go to Gaza, to be determined).Being in politics all his life, he was caught in a "debate" of sorts with Donald Trump and had stumbled in it noticeably, causing his statement of not running again, which he had wanted to do. That's where Kamala Harris, his present Vice President, is running for President.  It's between Harris and Trump, and like a close horse race.  At the moment, Trump is ahead.  He has already had an assassin try to fix the race and fail.                    

Resource:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_presidents_of_the_United_States_by_date_of_death

https://responsiblestatecraft.org/democrats-voted-for-israel-aid/

https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/immigration-to-the-united-states-1933-41#:~:text=1924%20Immigration%20Act&text=The%20quotas%2C%20inspired%20in%20part,southern%20and%20eastern%20European%20Jews.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama

https://www.politico.com/news/2023/11/05/obamas-warning-to-biden-israel-00125437

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Trump